Water-balanced elevator.



L. J CALDWELL.

WATER BALANCED ELEVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED IUNE I. 1916.

Patented Feb. 20, 1917.

2 $HEETSSHEET l.

Q/VMneMeS L. J. CALDWELL.

WATER BALANCED ELEVATOR.

APPLICATlON FILED JUNE 1. 1916.

'1 ,9 1 6,546 Patented Feb. 20; 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

LOYD J. CALDWELL, 0F WILS ON, IDAHO.

WATER-BALANCED ELEVATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 1, 1916. Serial No. 101,135.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, LoYD J. CALDWELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Wilson, in the county of Owyhee, State of Idaho, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Water-BalancedElevators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to elevators and has special reference to anelevator counterbalanced by a water containing tank, the latter beingarranged to contain more or less water according to the weight to becounterbalanced and the direction of movement desired for the elevatorcar. 7

One important object of the invention is to provide an improved andsimplified elevator arrangement wherein the car will be moved by watercarried in a suitable tank and acting as a counterbalance, the car andtank being connected and supported by a supporting cable and moving inone direction or the other in accordance with the quantity of water inthe tank.

A second important object of the invention is to provide an improvedmeans for filling and emptying the tank. 7

A third important object of the invention is to provide a novel clampbrake arrangement for use in connection with a car of this description,the brake being so arranged as to clamp the supporting cable with thecar in any desired position.

A fourth important object'of the invention is to provide a controllingdevice for the water valves of such an elevator which will pass throughthe car and at the same time be within reach of a person standing at theshaft door at each floor so that such person may operate the car tobring the same opposite the door without the services of a regular andconstant attendant being necessitated.

A still further important object of the invention is the provision of astationary cable passing through the car and so arranged that aperson-on the car may cause the latter to move up and down in the elevator shaft at will, when the car is properly counterbalanced.

With the above and other objects in view, as will be hereinafterapparent the invention consists in general of certain novel details ofconstruction parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and specifically claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,like characters of reference indicate likeparts in the several views, and H Figure 1 is a section through anelevator shaft showingseveral of the floors of a buildlng and theimproved arrangement of elevator disposed in the shaft.

Fig. 2 is a similar section but taken at right angles to Fig. 1; i

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the floor of the elevator cage; i

Fig. 4 is an enlarged'detail view of the cable clamp;

Fig. 5 is a perspective of the rod grip;

Fig. 6 is a detail view of a modified form of brake, the same beingapplied to the sheave over the elevator cage.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 there isdisclosed an elevator cage or car 10 which moves up and down a shaft 11between guides 12. On the floor of the car is provided a foot brake 13which is so arranged as to engage one of the guides when thrust upon bythe foot so that the car maybe checked in its motionthereby, this footbrake being of anypreferred construction which I may see fit to use.

Attached to the top of this car is a cable 14 which is trained over asheave 15 suitably mounted on the frame-work of the elevator shaft. Thecable then extends laterally and is trained over a second sheave 16similarly supported in the shaft and then extends downward to acounterbalance tank 17. Mounted at'the top of the elevator shaft is asupply tank 18 and at the'bottom of said shaft is a receiving tank '19.Extending from the tank 18 is a pipe 20 and to the endof this pipe 1sconnected a flexible tube or hose 21 which is in turn connected to thetop of the tank 17. In the pipe 20 is av valve 22 which is controlled byan operating handle 23.

Leading downward from the tank 17 is a hose 2a which is connected to apipe 25 communicating with the tank 19. In the pipe 25 is a valve 26provided with an operating handle 27 and the two valves 22 and 26 are invertical alinement. The operating handles 23 and 27 are connected by arod 28 which passes vertically through the car 10,

"as shown. Moreover these valves 22 and 26 Patented Feb. 20, 1917.

and combinations of derstood. By means of this apparatus the car may becaused to move in either direction sinceit will only be necessary to puta suflicientquantityof water 111 the tank 17 by opening the valve 22 tocounterbalance the weight of the ca'r'10 and'thus cause the r car tomove upward, or if it is desired to move the car downward, water isletout of the tank 17 by opening the valve QG'WlIGI'B- upon'the carwilldescend. In each of these instances, ifthec'ounterbalancing has beenproperly performed' pressure on the foot "brakej13 will'lock the car'inany desired position. Itis to be noted that the position oftherod 28is'such thatit is close tothe doors of the elevator shaft so that suchrod can be operated by a person standing at one of the landings.

In order to'f'urther efiect braking there is provided a clamp consistingof'a base member 28and a'coactingtopor cover 29, the

two being held together by parallel links 30 so that movement of thecover 29jin either direction will causefthe same'to approach theba'se28'. on this top member 29 is a 7 lug 31 whereto isconnected a rod 32which is in turn connectedto a lever 33 so arranged that' its end liesadjacent the elevator shaft wall and above the doors. Connected to thisend of the lever 33 is a rod 34 which passesdownward'through theelevator and is received in 'a' suitable guide35 at the I bottom 'of theshaft; It will be obvious that movement in either direction of the rodas will'cause movement of the lever 33 and this in turn will actuate therod 32tofmove the clamp top .meinber29 toward the hn 8 In order toefiect movement of'this'rod 5% by the car itself it is preferred toprovide mechanism to clamp the rod and car together. To this end thereis provided on 7 the floor of the car a stationary clamping member'36and a movable clamping mem- .These;two-clan1p members are soarrangedthat the rod3 1 passesf between them and in alineme'nt with thepathof 'novement of themember 37 there is a sup= port- 38' 37 Thiswhereto is"'connected oneo'f the members of a-knuckle joint 39,theremain-. ing knuckle being connected to the member knuckle jointcarriesa footpedal 10 so as to be readily operated by pressure of thefoot of a person riding in the elevator; In the operation of this partof the device when the pedal 40 is depressed the rod B iwill be clampedto the car and any 'movement'of the c'arino'ne direction or theotheriwill cause clamping movement of the 1 cablejclamp whichiwill stopfurther movement of the Stop buttons 15 and 16 on rods 3 1 and cable 11,are to be located at top and bottom of elevator shaft so as to stop car10 before it can strike ends of shaft.

r In order to more nicely and carefully control the movement of the carwhen the same is counterbalanced, further means are provided.

In the embodiment shown, these means consist of a cable 41 which isfixed above to the frame-work of the elevator shaft and is attachedbelow to the upper end of a tension spring42, the lower end of saidspring being 'fiXed to the floor of the elevator shaft. 15y

this means, the cable is at all times kept taut. Mounted in the car is adrum 13 which is operated by a crank 14: and the cable 41 is woundaround this drum. In the operation of this part of the device when thecar has been just counterbalanced by the proper weight of water in thetank 17, the operator in the carmay grasp the crank 44k and by rotationthereof cause upward or downward movement of the'car. In this way thecar can be positioned exactly at the right place so that its floorwill'come in alinement with the floor at which it is desired to stop.

' In the modified form of brake shown in Fig. 6 there is'provided on thesheave 15 a brake drum 45 surrounded by a brake band 16 which has itsends connected to a toggle 47 to which the rod 82 isattached. It will beobvious that movement of this toggle in either direction will causeclamping of the brake band on the brake drum and that such 'm'ovement iseffected in precisely the same manner as the movement of the member 29toward the member 28 previously described. The tank 18 may be suppliedwith water from any. suitable source and in order to indicate such asource there has been here shown a valved supply pipe 48 adapted forconnection to a city main or the like, although this pipe may beconnected to the tank of a windmill tower or any other elevated sourceof water supply as desired.

There has thus been provided a simple and efficient device of the kinddescribed and for the purpose specified.

It is obvious that many minor changes may be made in the form andconstruction of'the invention without departing from the materialprinciples thereof. It is not therefore desired to confine the inventionto the exact form herein "shown and described but it is wished toinclude all such as properly come within the scope claimed.

Having-thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

l. The combination with an elevator car; of a tank connected to the carto form a counterweight therefor, a supply pipe connected to the tank, adraw ofl' pipe connected to the tank, vertically alined valves in saidpipes, and a rod connecting the valves and passing through the car, acable passing vertically through the car and having fixed ends, meanswithin the car to cause the car to travel along the cable when said caris counterbalanced. r

2. The combination with an elevator car; of a tank connected to the carto form a counterweight therefor, a supply pipe connected to the tank, adraw ofi pipe connected to the tank, vertically alined valves in saidpipes, a rod connecting the valves and passing through the car, a cablepassing vertically through the car and having fixed ends, a drumrotatably mounted in the car around which said cable is wound, and acrank for the drum operable by the elevator attendant to cause travel ofthe car on the cable.

Copies of this patent may he obtained for five cents each,

3. In combination, an elevator car, a counterweight therefor, a cableconnecting and supporting the car and counterweight, a cable gripadapted to engage said cable, a rod passing through the car and arrangedto operate the grip upon movement, a gripping device fixed to the carand adapted to engage the rod to move the latter as the car moves, andoperating means for the rod gripping device mounted within the car.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses.

LOYD J. CALDWELL.

Witnesses:

A. C. CALDWELL, ISABEL SIMMONS.

by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

